Benches clear, two ejected in A’s romp over Orioles

Oakland stomped all over the Orioles on Sunday, and by the late going, grievances boiled over in the A’s 11-1 win, with both benches emptying after Manny Machado let his bat go on a swing, sending it toward third baseman Alberto Callaspo.

Oakland Athletics v Baltimore Orioles

Manny Machado argues with catcher Stephen Vogt during the eighth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 8, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. Machado was ejected from the game. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Machado, who’d inexplicably snapped at Josh Donaldson on Friday night after being tagged out in the baseline, had smacked catcher Derek Norris in the head with a backswing in the sixth inning Sunday, and Norris had to leave the game. Reliever Fernando Abad then threw near Machado’s legs on the first pitch of his at-bat in the eighth inning, and on the next pitch, Machado let his bat fly down the third-base line.

Catcher Stephen Vogt turned and yelled at Machado, and both benches emptied – with catcher John Jaso, usually the team’s most-laid-back player, leading the charge for Oakland.

“It got pretty intense there for a while, I don’t know,” Jaso said. “There is a certain respect you have to have for this game … and when I feel someone doesn’t see that or respect the game as such, it doesn’t sit well with me. I really don’t like it. And that’s what I felt, I felt there was disrespect for the game coming from one player.”

Jaso was restrained by Orioles coach Wayne Kirby, but it’s clear Machado’s antics – his petulance after getting tagged, grinning after whacking Norris – have not endeared him to the A’s. The fact that Donaldson was pitched inside Friday and then hit that night also may have contributed, and the catchers particularly did not appreciate getting bonked with several Machado follow-throughs.

Both Abad and Machado were ejected, Abad for throwing at Machado and Machado for a bad toss that crew chief Larry Vanover said “wasn’t accidental.” Both are likely to be fined, and there is also the possibility of suspension for one or both.

Machado said, “The bat slipped out of my hands. Trying to make contact and the umpire thought it was intentional and he tossed me at that point,” but the consensus in the A’s clubhouse was that Machado meant to let the bat go, some pointing the the fact the ball was already in the glove when he swung.

“He’s a guy who pretty much swings at strikes, and I’ve never seen a guy swing at a ball coming right at him like that and let the bat go flying,” Jaso said. “I’ve never seen a bat get released like that so there’s only one thing I can think, it was kind of intentional.”

Orioles manager Buck Showalter stuck up for his player, as he had Friday, saying, “I think if you look at it realistically, you had two competitive people the first day that both were probably a little right and both of them a little wrong. I always try to let the players handle those things instead of getting involved with them.. … Two days ago they had a disagreement over what Manny perceived as something and I’m always going to support him. And then two days later in a 10-nothing game in the eighth inning, someone decided to do something else. I’ll manage my club accordingly and they can live with their decisions.”

A’s manager Bob Melvin said only, “Everyone saw what went down the last couple days and everyone’s thinking the same thing. I’ll leave it at that.”

The teams meet again at the Coliseum right after the All-Star break, July 18-20.

Oakland’s romp was fueled by a catcher-heavy lineup Sunday, an almost-unheard of three-catcher special as the flextime A’s outright flaunted their versatility. Norris started behind the plate, Jaso at DH and Vogt in right until Norris’ departure.

Norris said he was initially fuzzy, with blurred vision, after getting bonked twice by Machado over the course of the game, but he said he felt fine within five minutes and passed his concussion tests. Melvin said Norris will be good to go tomorrow at Anaheim.

What irked Norris and Jaso was the lack of concern Machado showed after bonking Norris on the head. “Usually most guys ask if you’re all right, but if anything I might have caught him smiling one time, which is bizarre,” Norris said. “Yeah, not much cordialness coming from his side today.”

Norris added later, “What he’s doing, it’s a disgrace to baseball. It’s sad to see someone of his talent and national recognition stain (his) career.”

“Those backswings, OK, that stuff does happen, and the guy who did it is always like, ‘Hey, are you all right?’ It’s always like that,” Jaso said. “When people aren’t aware or don’t even care about that etiquette a lesson needs to be taught there. … That little bit of camaraderie, that sportsmanship, needs to be there.”

Vogt had no issue with the follow-throughs that struck Norris, just the lack of concern. “He’s got a big long swing,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any intent there. It happens frequently.”

The three-catcher lineup? Vogt dug it. “I loved it,” he said, adding with a grin, “When you have three catchers in the lineup you’re bound to get double-digit runs in a win.”

Sunday was something of a showcase of why Oakland leads the majors in runs, with 326, has the majors’ best ERA, and by far the best run differential, now at a jaw-dropping plus-128. The A’s have scored double-digits 11 times this season.

Jaso nearly hit a grand slam in the third inning, but the ruling on the field was overturned on replay. Jaso was left with a two-run double, and Brandon Moss took care of the grand slam later in the inning, crushing a shot out to right center off Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jaso had seen the replay and agreed it was a double. “It was good to keep it out of the yard, let Moss collect all the RBIs,” he joked.

“He really had a good swing, he just doesn’t have enough pop,” Moss joked of Jaso’s drive.

Jimenez, who walked four men in the inning, exited after Moss’ shot. The A’s worked a season-high 11 walks in all.

Hitting with the bases loaded was a regular occurrence for Oakland on Sunday. Along with the Jaso and Moss drives, they had four other plate appearances with the bases full and one of them, a groundout by Jaso, resulted in an RBI.

Melvin had said several days earlier that he probably would use three catchers in the lineup only in the event of an injury, and on Sunday, he wanted to get Coco Crisp another start off to rest his stiff neck. Craig Gentry starts against left-handers, but the Orioles had right-hander Jimenez going, so Yoenis Cespedes was in center field, and to wedge in another left-handed hitter, Melvin stuck Vogt in right, reasoning that he’d done a good job there at Yankee Stadium.

Scott Kazmir (7-2) threw seven scoreless innings and over his past six outings, he has a 1.67 ERA. “Seems like a broken record,” Melvin said, “but he’s just a very consistent guy, a great pickup for us, a credit to the front office for targeting him in the offseason. He’s been spot-on every time.”

Third baseman Donaldson struck out four times on Saturday and bounced into two double plays on Sunday while going 0 for 5, but he made the defensive play of the game in the series finale, diving to his right for a smash down the line by Nick Hundley and then making a strong throw from foul ground to get the out.

“A ridiculous play,” Melvin said. “It’s a double, and all of a sudden it’s an out. When you’re struggling with the bat, it’s very easy to let that ball get down the line, focus-wise, but he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t take a pitch off.”

Melvin believes that on the offensive side, Donaldson just might be trying to do too much with all the emotions of the past few days.

First baseman Kyle Blanks reached base five times, three times on walks, and he has a career-high nine-game hitting streak.

Nick Punto hit second for the first time this year and he reached base four times, drove in two runs and scored one. Melvin said he batted Punto second to shake things up a little: that plus 3 catchers = good plan.